22

Claudia Strikes Back

‘It’s Claudia Slymark, the woman I told you about,’ Gafferty said, turning to the Chief. ‘Somehow she’s found out about the Burrow. The ghosts work for her.’

‘You led her here!’ said Talpa. ‘You’ve betrayed us!’

‘I didn’t! I haven’t!’ Gafferty found she was fighting back tears. She was exhausted, not just from the journey, but from arguing with people she thought should know better – her own people. It was so frustrating and pointless.

Before she could say anything else, there were more shouts, and half a dozen Smidgens came running into the hall followed by a stream of smoke. The smoke surrounded the nearest Smidgen, who halted mid-run and fell to the ground, a statue covered in a blue-white frost. Quigg and the Chief gasped in fear at the sight of the ghost. Its body was squeezed out of shape to fit through the tunnel but in the middle of its swirling form Gafferty immediately recognised the thing’s weaselly eyes as those of Hinchsniff. Then she remembered the last time she’d met the ghosts.

‘They don’t like my knife,’ she said. ‘It can hurt them. So that means they won’t want to go near the Jewel. You’ll be safe there.’ The two Smidgens looked doubtful.

‘We can’t trust you!’ said Talpa. ‘It could be a trap!’

‘You have to believe me! There isn’t time to argue!’

The ghost poured through the hall, freezing Smidgen after Smidgen as it filled the room. Quigg nodded.

‘We don’t have any other choice,’ Quigg said to Talpa. ‘Let’s do what she says for now.’

The Chief and Quigg hurriedly followed Gafferty back to the chamber of the Great Jewel.

‘Where’s the other one?’ said Quigg. Crumpeck was nowhere to be seen.

‘He must have followed us out,’ said Gafferty, ‘with all the noise and confusion.’

‘Never mind him!’ snapped the Chief. ‘Where’s the Great Jewel?’

It was gone – its pedestal stood empty! Gafferty’s heart sank. Oh, Crumpeck – please say you haven’t …

CRACK!

The room trembled, and bits of the earth above their heads crumbled to the floor, filling the chamber with dust.

CRACK!

‘What’s happening now?’ wailed Talpa. Suddenly a huge metal pole crashed through the skylight, splinters of glass showering around them.

‘The window has been smashed!’ cried Quigg, just as another misty shape billowed into the chamber from above.

‘Totherbligh!’ said Gafferty. The ghost saw her and grinned mischievously.

‘Well, well!’ he said, curling his body around the bare pedestal as the Smidgens cowered in front of him. ‘What do we have here? A veritable infestation of rat folk, including the most pestilential pest of them all, little Miss Gafferty Sprout. So nice to see you again, my dear.’

Gafferty jumped in front of the others and pulled her knife from her jacket. She waved it in Totherbligh’s leering face. Sparks spat from the blade and stung him like tiny biting insects. He yelped and drew back.

‘Keep that thing away from me!’

‘Go back to your mistress and tell her I’m going to stop her,’ yelled Gafferty.

‘I will,’ said Totherbligh, retreating through the skylight like smoke up a chimney. ‘But now she knows you’re here, along with your accursed little splinter, I don’t think you’ll have much luck.’

Gafferty and Quigg scampered back to the hall once more, the Chief trailing behind. There were frozen Smidgens lying everywhere, but no sign of Hinchsniff.

‘What’s happened to them?’ cried Quigg. ‘Will they be all right?’

‘Don’t worry,’ said Gafferty. ‘It’s called fright-freeze. It will wear off after a while. In the meantime, we must find Crumpeck! If Claudia gets to him before we do, we’ll never get your Jewel back.’

There was a startled squeal from behind them. They turned and saw the Chief lying frozen on the ground, his eyes wide with surprise. A horrible chuckling floated down from over their heads.

‘Hello again!’ Hinchsniff sniggered. ‘I thought I’d find you once we met your little bird friend.’ Bird friend? Will! Gafferty’s heart leaped. Was he here? Was he safe? There was no time to think about it.

‘Run!’ said Gafferty, pushing the horrified Quigg down a passageway. She waved her knife at Hinchsniff, and he hissed at her like a snake, but thankfully didn’t follow. ‘Crumpeck must be trying to find his way out of here,’ she said. ‘Which path takes us back to the club house?’

‘This way,’ said Quigg, diving into a side passage. ‘He can’t have got far if he’s carrying the Jewel. It must weigh as much as I do!’

They followed the passage. It was deserted, the Smidgens of the Burrow hiding in their homes from the strange invaders. Then they saw him, hobbling along the corridor ahead, a large object tucked under his coat. Gafferty had been hoping she was mistaken, hoping he hadn’t stolen the Jewel, but there was no mistaking either him or it. Her heart sank.

‘Crumpeck!’ she shouted.

Just as he turned, a metal wall descended through the ceiling in front of them with a huge crash. Gafferty saw the danger and just had time to pull Quigg out of its way before she could be sliced in half. The barrier blocked off the passage and carved through the tunnel on either side. For a moment, Gafferty thought some kind of door or gateway had been shut in their faces, but from Quigg’s scream she realised that wasn’t the case. Just as quickly as it had fallen, the wall rose out of the ground, showering earth all over them, as daylight streamed in from above. Gafferty looked up in dismay. The metal wall was the blade of a spade – someone was digging up the Burrow! And that someone could only be Claudia Slymark.

Ahead, she saw Crumpeck staggering onwards down the passage. The spade dug into the tunnel once more, narrowly missing him but close enough in front of him to send him flying backwards, the Jewel tumbling to the ground.

The spade then tore the roof off the passage, revealing them all to the sky. Claudia stood astride the tunnel, spade in hand, with a satisfied smile.

She hadn’t spotted Gafferty, who dragged Quigg back the way they came until they were hidden from view. She did see Crumpeck, however, and scooped him up in her hand as he desperately clung on to the Jewel.

‘Buried treasure,’ she said, leaning on her spade, as the Smidgenologist tried to wriggle free.

‘Let me go!’ squealed Crumpeck.

‘No,’ said Claudia. ‘You and your little bauble are coming with me. And this time, I’m not going to let this precious object out of my sight.’